Woman in Hyderabad, India

Here is a testimony from a savings group member near Hyderabad, India. She is part of a savings group operated by Open Hands in partnership with Good Life Ministries (GLM).

I have something now… The goats to fall back on.

After moving to Hyderabad from my village almost 10 years ago; I along with my husband, worked in a Stone Quarry for 7 years. My life took a major turn when I got really sick 3 years ago and doctors told me that I should not work; as it is breaking rocks and loading them on to the truck, which means heavy lifting. This is because I had problems with my stomach and intestines. Since my husband spends almost half of his earnings on drinking, this has made my life very difficult to live and care for my family.
I tried to find different jobs like picking trash or helping to dig ditches but nothing worked out for me. So I went back to the Quarry hoping that someday something would come up for me that would give me some income and I would still be able to protect my health.

Since the last few months; I have noticed the new savings group meeting in our slums that was started by GLM staff. As the ladies would gather and put their monies together, this made me curious to know more about the program I wanted to join them. At the beginning my husband was against it but after GLM staff met with my husband several times upon my request he finally agreed to it. I was so excited. And the challenging part for me was to see how quick a new group would form in our slums so I could join. I was amazed to see in less than a month we had enough people to start a new group. 3 months later; with the group members knowing about my health problems and my home situation; they encouraged me a lot and helped me to buy goats.

About Open Hands

Open Hands exists for the purpose of providing Christ-centered economic development opportunities for the poor. We operate savings and credit associations in countries where Anabaptist missions are working with people who are experiencing the effects of poverty.